Vivi
Hey guys! Welcome to Hogwarts after the War. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters; they are the property of J.K. Rowling. All characters not originally in the Harry Potter universe (whether in the book or in supplementary material) are owned by me. This is the first and last time I'm putting in this disclaimer. Without further ado, here is Vivi, the first chapter of Hogwarts after the War.
(Hogwarts after the War)
Between the lilies and the roses. This is Vivi's favorite place at her house, or rather, her grandmother's greenhouse. Ironically, her grandmother Elizabeth would kill her if she knew she was in her garden, but Elizabeth would kill her for breathing if possible, so why stop.
Vivi flips over on her stomach and pulls her scrapbook towards her. Its pages are filled with dozens of pictures of Princess Diana. Beautiful, slender and graceful, in Vivi's eyes, she was the perfect woman. Vivi, however, is short and stout with limp dark-blonde hair, a wide nose, and an overbite which made her look like a human mouse. The only thing beautiful about her is her emerald eyes, passed down to her from her mother Rose and her grandmother. If only she could be-
Vivi yelps as she is jerked to her feet by the collar of her blue dress. A pale hand grips into a shoulder and yanks her around, bringing her face-to-face with Elizabeth.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of my garden?"
"I'm sorry, Grandmother, it won't happen-"
"Lies, lies, lies. All you do is lie" sneers Elizabeth as she snatches up Vivi's scrapbook, "Looking at this again? I wish you would do more productive things instead of living in your fantasies."
She shoves the book into Vivi, knocking her to the ground. "Now get out."
Biting her lips, Vivi storms towards the exit. A bang!, however, makes her turns around. Vivi's eyes widen as she watches the lighthouse bulbs burst one by one, until only darkness remained. Her hearts start to race as she looks at Elizabeth's wild eyes.
Vivi felt the slap before Elizabeth's hand connected to her face. She barely registers falling in the soft, moist soil. Somewhere, Vivi hears Elizabeth yell "How dare you use magic in this house?", but she doesn't register it. Instead, her mind goes to last year. Oh that last year. On the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole, the oldest son of the Weasley family was getting married when The Burrow was attacked. The assailants spilled over into the city, killing citizens indiscriminately. Her grandfather, John O'Donaghue, was one of their victims. Now, there was no love lost between Vivi and her grandfather, but his death crushed Elizabeth and changed her relationship with Vivi for the worst. Her slight obsession with magic became pure hatred; unlike most of the people of the village, Elizabeth knew that the attackers were wizards.
A growl breaks Vivi from her trance. She is filled with horror as she looks up at her mother. Her eyes wide and teeth bared, Rose lunges at her mother, slamming Elizabeth to the ground. Elizabeth looked so small under her daughter. Grabbing her by the neck with one hand, Rose uses the other to continuously slap Elizabeth in the face.
"Rosie." Tears slide down Elizabeth's face, "Please."
Vivi couldn't stand when her mother was like this, even if it was against Elizabeth; it reminded her too much of John. "Mummy, stop!" she yells as she grabs Rose's arm, "Let's go try on one of your dresses."
Rose swings around and wraps her tanned and muscular arms around her daughter. "Vivi!" she cries as she rubs their cheeks together, "I won't let my nasty mother do anything to you again."
Vivi knew this was an empty promise; Elizabeth will just wait until Rose was preoccupied to get back at Vivi. She took comfort in it anyway because it will be a while until that happened. Still, Vivi couldn't help but look at the crumpled form on the ground. To be attacked by the only person you love in this world...Vivi turns away.
(Hogwarts after the War)
"Vivi, you're so pretty!"
Vivi gives a strained smile as she holds her arms and twirls around in a yellow dress with large puffed sleeves and pink ribbons peppered everywhere- the type of dress made for special occasions that sacrifices comfort for style. Rose couldn't do much of anything, but one thing she excelled at was making dresses, in spite of her mental disability.
John and Elizabeth had Rose later in life, and she was born premature, both leading factors in her condition. The doctors said that although Rose will eventually be able to take care of herself, she could never support herself. Her parents didn't mind at all; Rose was the most precious thing in their lives, and for sixteen years the three of them lived peacefully. Then Vivi was conceived.
No one knew what really happened, or how she got so far away from her parents. All anyone knew was that Rose was found in the field where the villagers had been carving pumpkins. Her dress was pulled over her head and her underwear was ripped to shreds. Rose's screams haunted Ottery St Catchpole for months. Vivi was born July 1st the next year. During the time between, Rose went good-naturally naïve to unpredictably violent. Well, also unpredictably. God so help the person who lays a finger on Vivi.
A rap on the door catches Vivi's and Rose's attention. "Rosie?"
"Come in, Mummy" says Rose, their earlier altercation completely forgotten, "Look at Vivi."
Elizabeth pays no attention to Vivi as she comes in. Both Elizabeth and Rose are taller than the average woman, but Elizabeth is pale and slender with curly dark hair, whereas Rose is tan and muscular with long, dark-blonde hair. Vivi looks a lot like her mother, but not in the ways that count. She would give anything to be tall.
"Rosie, you have to take your dresses to Rhodes before the shop closes."
Rose throws herself on her bed and covers her head. "I'm tired. I want to take a nap."
As Rose starts snoring, Elizabeth turns towards Vivi and raises an eyebrow. Without a word, Vivi heads downstairs.
(Hogwarts after the War)
Vivi groans as the wagon with the dresses hits a rock. 'Don't let the carriage bounce too much.' 'Don't touch the dresses, you'll mess them up.' 'If you give me less than 100 pounds, I will slap you across the face. I know how much those dresses cost.' If she didn't trust her, why have her take the dresses at all? Vivi sighs and starts humming "Eleanor Rigby".
As Vivi trudges down Ottery's streets with the heavy wagon behind her, she sees the two Weasley women heading the other way. You can always tell a Weasley by their red hair, although she only knew a few of their names. Jennifer Weasley- that must be what Ginny is short for- holds up her mother as Mrs. Weasley fiddles with a bouquet of white roses tied with a black ribbon, the remembrance bouquet. Her downturned face makes Vivi look away.
A couple of months ago, her son Fred died. Or was it George? The twins stick out in Vivi's memory because they would pull pranks on the oblivious villagers. Elizabeth would laugh because she knew what was going on, until she became their target. Then, she would either swear her head off when she thought she was alone, or yell at Vivi for not doing anything about it. What was she supposed to do? Vivi could barely control her magic. But she doesn't have to do anything anymore; with his partner-in-crime gone, Fred or George will probably never pull another prank again. Vivi is happy for that, but she wish it didn't come about because one of the twins died.
Vivi nearly passes her destination watching the Weasleys. Rhodes is a charity store run by Andrew Rhodes, a firefighter. The first floor is lined up with an assortment of clothing leading from the front door to the front desk. There are stairs across from the door that lead to the second floor, which is filled to the brim with various thingamajigs and whatchamacallits. Heading to the front desk, she hears Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Lovegood, a strange man, gushing over their daughter.
"Aw, my Audrey" starts Mr. Rhodes as he strokes his strawberry-blond beard, "She's going to graduate top of her class next year from Cambridge. She wants to be a doctor, and I couldn't be more proud. Many, Phil, she's the only good thing that came out of my marriage."
"Oh, I doubt that" responds Mr. Lovegood as he watches Mr. Rhodes bag his things, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten married. Nevertheless, I wish Audrey luck on her life after graduation."
"The same with Luna and hers…oh, hey Vivi."
Vivi waves as she pushes the wagon against the desk. "Hi Mr. Rhodes. Hi Mr. Lovegood."
"Hey, Vivi" responds Mr. Lovegood as he takes his bag, "Are you bringing in those cute dresses? I wish Luna was young again so I could get her one."
With a wave to Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Lovegood leaves the shop. Mr. Rhodes then lifts out the dresses, counting them as he puts them on hangers. "And there're ten. Here's 100 pounds."
Vivi holds out her hand, in which Mr. Rhodes places two 50-pound bills in her hand. "Oh, and here's five pounds for the road" he says as he puts a five-pound bill in her pocket.
"Thank you, Mr. Rhodes!" says Vivi. Mr. Rhodes always gave her five pounds anytime she deliveries the dresses herself. Elizabeth only worries about the profits from the dress; she doesn't ask about anything extra.
"No problem" he responds as she walks out of the door, "Say Hello to your mum and grandmother for me."
(Hogwarts after the War)
Vivi puts the wagon in the shed and goes to the sitting room, money in hand. When she entered the room, however, the hair on the back stands up. Usually, Elizabeth is standing by the door waiting to pounce, whether Vivi had the money out or not. Instead, she sits with a letter in her hands. When she finishes, Elizabeth looks at Vivi with a smirk on her face.
"Looks like you'll be gone for a while. 'We are pleased to accept Viviane Faye O'Donaghue into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"
(Hogwarts after the War)
This is the end of Vivi, the first chapter of Hogwarts after the War. This chapter is a lot of setting up, but don't worry. Next chapter, we're off to the Hogwarts Express. See you then!